The invasion of Normandy was the most decisive battle of World War II in Western Europe. The importance of the position helps to diminish Nazi power. The attack was postponed several times due to bad weather. Was the “go” order given shortly based on an incorrect weather report? The planning for Operation Overlord was an idea that arose in early 1942. One of the key points that helped push the planning forward was the idea that the U-Bats no longer posed a threat to the Allies. This now created an ocean that would be safe for the flow of supplies from the United States to Great Britain. By November 1943 the agreement was in place to plan a huge operation to cross the Channel and liberate France. “ The general scheme of the attack was relatively simple: find suitable beaches, gather landing forces, isolate the battlefield by attacking bridges, tunnels and railway networks so that the German defenders could not be easily reinforced, and land the troops. Once a beachhead was established, the plan was to pour in the supplies needed to sustain an offensive and then break into the French countryside” (Encarta) The attack was code-named Operation Overlord. The expected date was the spring of 1944. Weather and tides played a large role in when the attack would occur. The tides were the most important as the attack was both terrestrial and aquatic amphibious. The attack was originally scheduled for May 1, 1944. The Tiger exercise took place on April 27, 1944, during which it was discovered that they did not have enough landing craft to precede. The operation was postponed to June 5 of the same year. In an attempt to drive Hitler out and keep the date mysterious, the Allies used several tactics to misinform. One of the... mid-card divisions, one British and two American, would fall behind the landing beaches. Their task is to occupy beach exits, capture key transportation and communication points and block German counterattacks. The Americans landed on open beaches, far from any cities, and did not use any of the specialized armored tanks offered to them. by the British Army, except for the Sherman which swam, and many of these were sunk when they were dumped offshore and sank in the rough water. Thick fog and German weapons proved challenges. The pilots failed to drop the paratroopers as planned. Many US paratroopers from the 101st and 82nd Airborne also drowned when the USAAF dropped them in a huge swamp, about 30 miles from the target. In some cases it took 2 days to become an effective fighting force again, because they were so spread out.